The Poor Man’s Tilt-Shift: Freelensing Your Way to a Specialty Lens

While we’ll never condone the wanton destruction of a lens (especially one of ours), sometimes a little home reverse engineering can do wonders–or at least make for a fun weekend project. This is exactly what photographer Jay Cassario did over at Lightshop. He took a $120 lens and converted into a tilt-shift, saving himself about $1,000. Of course, he could have just rented a tilt-shift lens from us but that is not the point! Read all about Jay’s quest to break a lens and have it be reborn into a tilt-shift.

Freelensing is a relatively inexpensive way of getting the similarly unique affect of an expensive tilt-shift lens, where the focus plane is thrown out of whack with the added bonus of natural light leaks. No, this isnt anything new, and the look that an expensive tilt-shift lens gives has been around for a while, but I wanted to share with you my experience with it and how I did it. Yes, I did purchase a brand new Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D lens from B&H only to break it and take it apart the minute I took it out of the box…but that was the reason I purchased it. I had tossed around the idea of spending the money on a tilt-shift lens that would easily cost me over $1000, but after reading about the freelensing technique from Sam Hurd, I figured I would give it a try. At the end of the day, it’s the unique look that I’m going for, so if I could get that by breaking a $120 lens, let’s do it.

The idea behind a tilt-shift lens is tilting the lens at an angle to the sensor to change the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF). The technique of freelensing not only gives you the ability to change the PoF, but it also gives you some pretty cool light leaks from not having the lens actually attached to the camera. You can do this with both Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras and also Sony, from what I’ve read. A cheap 50mm lens seems to work the best and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 worked perfectly for me. Since you’re not actually mounting the lens, the manufacturer of the lens doesn’t matter. You can use a Nikon lens with a Canon or vice versa. Before ordering the Nikon 50mm lens, I first tried the technique using a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens that I use on my Canon 35mm film bodies. The technique worked, but the problem was the rear element is pretty flush with the lens mount, which didn’t allow me to get close enough to the sensor. It didn’t look like I could take only the mount off very easily, and since it is the only 50mm Canon lens I have, I really didn’t want to go ripping it apart. I knew that in order for this technique to work I needed to be able to get the rear element closer to the sensor, and once I realized the only way to do this was to do a little re-constructing of a lens, I hopped online and ordered up the $120 Nikon 50mm f/1.8.

Three days later, big brown showed up with my new lens. I was so excited that you would have thought a brand new $1,830.00 Nikon 85mm f/2.8D PC-E tilt-shift lens had just arrived. Screw driver in hand, I opened the box and like a surgeon I began to operate. I removed the mount, aperture ring, and while trying to not glue my fingers together, glued the aperture ring so it stays wide open. This wasn’t by any means a ground breaking procedure, this technique of using a broken lens has been done before, but anytime you purposely break a lens right out of the box it just feels…well…a little odd. Once I had it stripped down, the rear element stuck out like a sore thumb and there was now room for it to get closer to the sensor. Now I would just have to be careful not to hit the mirror with it. PERFECT!

Once the glue was dry I grabbed my D800, dismounted my 24-70mm f/2.8 that was on there, made sure it was on Manual Mode, then turned on Live View and started moving the broken 50mm lens around in front of the sensor. WOW, that did it, getting the rear element closer to the sensor was the trick. Now, getting something in focus…that would take a little practice. I set the focus ring to infinity and moved the rear element back and forth from the sensor to get the focus I wanted. The first things I noticed were…

The focus plane just got whack, which is what I wanted, but in order to get the results that I wanted from this, I would need to be able to nail the focus on the one spot I wanted in focus.

After some practice I was able to start getting focus up close and further away. It is difficult to do but, at the right angle and setup, there can be two points of focus which is pretty cool. (Same as a tilt shift lens.)

Light leaks are a really cool affect, when they are controlled. It was hard not over-doing the light leaks and getting too much light in was something I needed to watch out for.

If you like bokeh and razor thin DOF…this will blow your mind.

There is a lot of vignetting, which just helps put the focus on the subject when done right.

DUST! I needed to order some sensor wipes. Dust was going to be an issue no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, but as long as I’m at least careful it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. After freelensing for over a week, the dust still wasnt that bad and I only needed air to clean the sensor.

Yes, this is a lot different from using a Lensbaby. A Lensbaby gives a tiny sweet spot in focus, one point of focus, and blurs out everything else. Throwing off the focus plane is much different. The same difference between a tilt-shift lens and a Lensbaby–a line of focus compared to a spot of focus.

So was my freelensing project successful? I think so. Is it something I can use on every shoot or regularly for Cass Imaging? No. Is it something I can toss in my bag and bring with me to sneak in a few shots with certain clients that would appreciate a little creativity and uniqueness? Absolutely. I’ve been able to create some pretty neat and unique images in only a week’s time, so I’m excited to use the technique more in different situations. The look this technique gives isn’t for everyone and I’m sure there are going to be a lot of you scratching your heads still at the fact that I broke a brand new lens. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with my decision and I now have no real desire to spend well over a grand to buy a tilt-shift lens. It’s going to take a lot of practice to get good at it, but that’s what photography is all about–getting out and shooting and getting better and better at whatever technique it is that you’re practicing.

I’ve been messing around with my “poor man’s tilt-shift” since I broke the original lens and you know what? I’ve been having a blast. It’s cool. It’s unique. It’s a lot of fun. There are a couple different techniques that I use, such as the bokeh panorama or Brenizer Method, to add a little creativity to certain shoots, depending on the client. It may surprise you, but for the most part they end up loving those shots in the end and it’s the final product they are concerned with no matter how you got it–whether it be a broken $120 lens or a $2000 tilt-shift lens.

Creativity goes a long way in photography and setting yourself apart from everyone else with a camera (or cell phone) is what you should be striving for. You want to stand out, you want to separate yourself, you want to have people recognize your work and know that a photograph is yours without using a watermark. Yes, this is difficult to do–especially in today’s world of smart phones and Instagram–but the more techniques and tricks you have in your bag, the better. The more you can do with a photo pre-processing and straight out of the camera is huge.

I hope you enjoyed the article and I definitely recommend giving freelensing a try if you have a few extra bucks to spend on a lens to break. A used 50mm f/1.8D can be found on Craigslist for about $100, if not cheaper. It doesn’t have to be brand new. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to help you out with this. Here are a few shots I took using the freelensing technique:

Special thanks to Lightshop for sharing this fun project with us! If you have done something similar, please share your technique or your images with us in the comments below!

Alexandria Huff is a portrait photographer based in San Francisco. Her tutorials can be found here on the BorrowLenses Blog, 500px, Shutterfly, Snapknot, and SmugMug. She specializes in studio lighting. Follow her work on 500px.

14 Comments

It’s actually just like a Lensbaby with the Edge 80 Optic. The Edge 80 Optic gives a line of focus instead of the spot of focus the other Lensbaby optics have. A Lensbaby with Edge 80 is more expensive than your way, but it’s easier to use and a lot less work.

Reminds me of what a bad Photoshopper will do if he doesn’t have a tilt shift lens.The Bokeh looks really fake because it is really excessive. Not my kind of look. And I agree with Bil, I would just get the Lens Baby Edge 80…

OK, I’m going to annoy some people, I know, but I hate this kind of tilt-shift photography with a screaming passion. It’s a technique, like Holga pics, HDR, pinhole photography and Instagram, that screams “GIMMICK!!!!” They are all rapidly on their way to becoming cliches. If the method you use to take the picture is the first thing I notice, maybe you should back off the implementation of that technique.

And the fact that he bought a brand new lens to destroy to do this just offends me. Spring for a Lensbaby if you must practice this annoying technique.

OK, I see my stepladder is here, so I’ll just climb down off my high horse now.

I’m not sure why it offends you that I broke the lens, but look at it this way…I didnt break it. It still works. Not only does it still work, but it now works the way I want it to. So I didnt “break” it…I Modified it. I own a business where my clients come to me because of my style and because my portrait, wedding, engagement work doesnt look like every other portrait photographer’s out there. Why would something like this, a technique that is different, be looked at negatively. Photography is an art, I think you need to remind yourself that.

It looks like a fun, crafty, educational kind of thing. Exactly some of the things you should be getting out of photography. I bet some time spent with the set up will will tame some of the more showy eccentricities while distilling the underlying power of the idea. And I’m sorry, who doesn’t crack open the occasional lens for REASONS.

Wouldn’t it be possible to use old manual lenses? Any specific reason why you chose to bust up a brand new digital lens when autofocus wan’t really necessary? And given the dreamy quality of the pics, I assume sharpness(?) isn’t a high priority either.

Thanks for the confirmation. You might also consider taping up a black piece of cloth or paper to the lens and body connection to reduce/avoid light leaks and dust. BTW luv the shot of the couple on the beach with the ring in the foreground. Would make a great pre-nup idea.

I like the looks of the images taken with this technique. I’m really surprised at the reaction from some readers. I know you asked for our comments, but I think it’s best if you cant’ make a constructive reply then it’s just your opinion, and an embarrasing one for the ingnorance it shows to a fellow photographer sharing different techniques. I can see how this will provide a level of creativitiy for your wedding shots and portraits. I’m going to pull out some old manual focus Nikkor tilts I’m fortunate to have and try the technique with landscapes and closeups. I’m also shooting some portraits this coming weekend for a woman who needs head shots for her drama/acting career. I think I’ll spice things up with one of the tilts. I agree the Edge 80 probably would provide the same effect for a lot more money sans light breaks (which I think are cool and unique). By the way, “breaking” and your right it’s really not broken if you’re still using it (and making money with the images), a $100 lens is a pretty small price to pay for the results you show here.

Ralph, I really REALLY appreciate your comment and also for understanding not only the point of the article/tutorial, but the point of the actual method. The ignorant replies don’t bother me Ralph, I know that there are photographers out there that have an open mind and creative approach to photography like myself that would appreciate the article. I’ve received a surprising amount of positive feedback and emails from photogs that broke…modified…their own lenses like your planning on doing and have loved the results.I would love to see the shots you get using the technique. I carry the lens with me now on most of my shoots and pulled it out this past Friday at a wedding, got a couple cool shots. Definitely worth the $100 I spent on the lens, it’s now worth a lot more than that to me.

Super late to the party here, but I recently discovered free lensing through a much simpler method- I simply detached my favourite prime lens, turned on my camera’s live focus and played around! http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisiskris/10580073793/
Lots of fun. I’d love to try this with portrait clients one day.